Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Family Research Council rails about 'sexualization' of the Armed Forces

While I know that everyone wants to zero in on Obama for his comments regarding Don't Ask, Don't Tell, check out this from an email message by the Family Research Council:

Last night in his State of the Union Address, President Obama repeated his call for Congress to repeal the military eligibility law that was passed in 1993, and to allow homosexual conduct within the ranks of the armed forces.

This would put our military in the strange position of actively recruiting personnel who have an expressed intention to violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice (which still prohibits certain forms of sexual conduct, including homosexuality). Forcing soldiers to cohabit with people who view them as sexual objects would inevitably lead to increased sexual tension, sexual harassment, and even sexual assault. America's military exists to fight and win wars --not to engage in radical social engineering.

It's amazing how the lies never really change. During the original hearings in the Clinton Presidency, Army and Navy officials circulated the discredited studies of Paul Cameron. Senator Sam Nunn, who opposed gays in the military, took the press on a tour of shower facilities in an attempt, I guess, to emphasize how "normal soldiers" are in danger if lgbt soldiers are allowed to serve openly.

That's the opposition, folks. And if we either laugh or marvel at the ignorance of FRC's statement, we do it at our own peril. We should remember that the organization belongs to a conglomerate of groups, talking heads, and assorted blogs all pushing the same lie - that somehow allowing gays to serve openly in the military will lead to danger.

So while Obama is relevant to a degree, in a larger sense he is rendered irrelevant if FRC and other organizations (not to mention Fox News, Big Government, etc.) can stitch together a good fear story to make Americans doubt the necessity of eliminating DADT.

And you just know that they are going to try. The question is what are we going to do about it?

About Me

Alvin McEwen is 44-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, MSNBC, The Washington Post, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Newsweek, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,and a present contributor to Justice For All, Daily Kos, the Huffington Post, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org.
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a two-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.